Policy Forum Guyana (PFG), one of the country’s leading civic oversight bodies, is reporting a second targeted break-in at its Georgetown office, raising fresh concerns about intimidation amid ongoing tensions over transparency in the extractive sector.
According to a statement issued by the organisation on Thursday, November 27, the latest breach occurred sometime between late Wednesday night and Thursday morning, just two days after the first attempted break-in on November 25. Although intruders were unable to gain full entry due to strong grill-work and an active MMC Security alarm system, they successfully twisted and broke sections of the grill to reach into the Coordinator’s office.
Upon opening the office at about 9:49 a.m., the Coordinator discovered that the workspace had again been disturbed — the desk shifted, drawers pried open, and documents pulled from shelves and scattered across the floor.
What alarms PFG most is the pattern. Despite several windows along the ground-floor corridor, the intruder or intruders bypassed multiple entry points during both incidents and focused exclusively on those closest to the Coordinator’s desk.
In the first break-in, two windows were bypassed; only the third window, directly facing the desk, was targeted. In the second breach, only the third and fourth windows — also nearest to the Coordinator’s workspace — were attacked. These windows are fully opaque with grey metal coverings, preventing visibility from outside.
The organisation notes that nothing of monetary value was stolen, even though easily accessible items such as mobile phones and the internet modem remained within arm’s reach of the broken grill. Instead, folders and documents appear to have been systematically rifled through. This, PFG argues, strongly suggests that the motive was not burglary.
“The pattern of these break-ins, the fact that high-value items were left untouched, and the repeated targeting of the same office and specific windows within a short time period suggest that this was not a casual act of theft,” said the Coordinator of PFG. “We view this as a direct attempt to intimidate us or access sensitive materials.”
The incidents come at a sensitive national moment. PFG has been publicly critical of the Ministry of Natural Resources’ recent attempts to influence the selection of civic representatives to the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GYEITI). The group has taken an active role in defending the independence of the EITI process, and the organisation notes that the timing of the break-ins — and the specific targeting of staff files — raises unsettling questions.
Police investigators from the Albert Town Criminal Investigation Division have already visited the premises and are conducting follow-up inquiries.
The PFG board denounced any attempt to interfere with its work, stating that it “condemns any effort to compromise its work and will continue to monitor and report on developments.” The organisation said further updates will be issued as more information becomes available.
